Maharashtra drought panchnamas to be complete by Oct 12, says minister Bharne

Pune: The state govt on Tuesday, while responding to complaints about the slow pace of panchnamas in drought-hit regions, said nearly 44% of the process was now complete and that a target had been set for Oct 12 for full completion. A full report would then be sent to the Centre for drought-relief assistance, officials said.The ongoing drought was discussed in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday where emphasis was laid on timely completion of the panchnama process. CM Devendra Fadnavis said: “A committee set up by the Centre on Maharashtra’s drought will visit the state in the next few days. It will review the situation till Oct 11 before finalising its ground report. We have already written to the Centre for drought relief. At present, our focus is to fulfil the required mandate.”The Centre requires the state to complete the panchnama process of the affected farms, to apply for relief under the NDRF. But some farmer activists, and opposition members, have said the process has been slow. State agriculture minister Dattatray Bharne on Tuesday said it’s being carried out on “war footing”.“So far, nearly 44% of the process is complete. Maximum area has been covered in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar where 67.3% of the total affected area’s panchnama process has been completed. The lowest percentage of the panchnama process, 10.31%, has been reported in Konkan region. The entire process is expected to be completed by Oct 12. A report will immediately be sent to central govt for NDRF relief,” Bharne added.By Sept 26, state had declared drought in 265 tehsils, but farmers and opposition members have called for more tehsils to be added, including in areas in their jurisdiction.Bharne said: “There are 19 tehsils that are under review, where ground-truthing is underway. Collectors of the districts have been told to submit their reports at the earliest so that necessary action can be taken.”